October Challenge  ProwlxJazz
by Ilyusha
Summary: Slash: ProwlxJazz.  G1.  Written for the Livejournal 'prowlxjazz' community October challenge. Five fics written around five word prompts.
1. Bad Dream

Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I've forgotten…  
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.

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"You hav' to be kidding me?"

"This is no joke Jazz, not unless I misread the timetable. We are due here for hand to hand combat."

"I know that Prowl, but you've seen who we've got it with, right?" Jazz didn't wait for Prowl's answer, knowing full well his friend would have committed the timetable to memory as soon as they received them. Unlike Jazz who had only just looked at it.

"Bruxis. I mean, wow… this has got to be like the best ever!"

"I fail to see the relevance. He's the most logical Autobot to take the class." Jazz slapped a hand to his face. Of course Prowl would take the logical approach.

"I know that. But I mean man, he's like a legend!"

"He holds the record for the most number of kills in any one battle, but I fail to see how such violence can be admirable." Jazz shook his head, deciding to give the cause up as lost. He knew when to step away from a fight he couldn't win; verbal or physical and he could never win against Prowl. That much he'd learnt over the year they had known each other – Prowl was the most logical mech. in their year at the Academy and there wasn't any way he could win an argument against logic.

A shadow fell across them and they looked up to see the largest mech. on possibly all of Cybertron. To their credit, neither of them blanched; a fact that earned them a sharp nod from the mech.

"Bruxis. Now get in there, we've got combat training to do." He pointed to the door leading to the training room.

At the end of the session they dragged themselves down to Medical, Jazz leaning heavily on Prowl's shoulder.

"That was a bad dream, right?"

"I'm afraid not. It was, however, a rather thorough thrashing." Prowl twitched a door wing, wincing as it sent pain lancing through his circuits.

"Man I am so looking forward to a nice long recharge."

"I agree. But I am more looking forward to some medical attention."

"I hear ya. Not looking forward to the bedside manner though."

"I can't believe how exhausting that was. Whoever knew how hard hand to hand could be?"

"We were severely overpowered Jazz." Prowl reminded his friend. They were sitting on Jazz's recharge berth in the dormitory, or rather; Prowl was sitting and Jazz was laid down next to him. Jazz waved a hand in the air as though to dismiss Prowl's explanation as false.

"Yeah, but when we've practised, it ain't ever been that hard."

"But we are fairly evenly matched for size and power." Jazz tapped his hand against Prowl's leg to some rhythm only he could hear; ignoring the slightly amused look Prowl gave him. At least, Prowl thought he ignored it. He might not have seen it – it was rather difficult to tell with that visor Jazz always insisted on wearing.

"True I guess. And I've got ways of beating ya." Jazz smirked. Prowl allowed himself a small smile.

"Yes… I can just imagine Braxis' reaction if you kissed him."


	2. Folklore or Fairy Tale or Urban Legend

Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I've forgotten…  
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.

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"Prowl…" Quirking an optic ridge Prowl lowered the datapad he was reading to come optic to visor with Jazz. It would never cease to amaze him how silently his friend moved.

"Yes?"

"Quit reading and pay attention to me."

"Demanding aren't we?"

"Yup!" Jazz flashed his patented 'melt Prowl' smile and pressed a kiss to Prowl's nose. "'Sides, you've been reading all day!"

"That is not true."

"Well, most of the day then. What could be more interesting than me?"

"You remember in our lecture on battle tactics last week when Firestorm mentioned the Battlefield Mech.?"

"Man, that's just a fairy tale… something that they tell us to make it easier if we don't make it back."

"I'm not entirely sure that it is. I have been researching accounts and I believe that it is not a fairy tale."

"What? You… Mr Logic himself… believing in a mech that visits you just before you die?"

"I do not see the problem. There is compelling evidence to suggest that there is truth in the rumor."

"Whatever…" Jazz shrugged. He didn't believe in the legend, so he couldn't understand why Prowl would. Anyway, he had far better things to be doing than discussing fairy tales. Straddling Prowl's hips, he proceeded to do his best to distract him from his reading.

And succeeded.

It was a few days later that Jazz would be able to give his own account of the Battlefield Mech. to Prowl.

A simple exercise gone horribly wrong that saw four students and an injured teacher stranded in the outskirts of a deserted city. Which would be fine were it not for the Decepticon raiding party that had detected them. Quickly taking charge, Prowl got them all under cover before suggesting a plan of action. The Decepticons were jamming their communication frequencies and they needed to call for help. Prowl suggested that he, Jazz and Skyspark distract the forces whilst Argott tried to get through to the Academy and Koter stabilised Firestorm as best he could.

Prowl covered the skies as Skyspark transformed and flew up to meet the Seeker trine whilst Jazz raced across the streets to take cover behind another building. With the forces divided and distracted, it was easier for the students to keep the Decepticons at bay while Argott broke through the jamming signal and managed to contact the Academy.

An explosion and the whine of engines signalled Skyspark's crashing return to the ground; outnumbered and outgunned by the trine, he hit the ground hard, the sound of splintering metal stark against the gunfire. Jazz, being the nearest, rushed to see what he could do to help. Prowl could do nothing but watch as three missiles headed towards the building Skyspark had crashed in to. The explosion knocked them all off their feet and through the dust, Prowl could see the Decepticons disappearing into the distance. Racing towards the rubble that now buried their friends, Prowl could only hope they weren't too late.

"Hang on!" Jazz yelled as he dashed across the street to where Skyspark lay crumpled in a large heap. He had just made it to the helicopter's side when the missiles impacted into the building, throwing him against Skyspark who grunted in pain. Any further sounds were drowned out by the building collapsing around them.

When his systems rebooted, Jazz could barely focus on anything in the darkness. Adjusting his optics to compensate made little difference. He could feel Skyspark beside him; the larger mech. was offline judging by the sounds his engine was making. That left him alone under a tonne or two of building and rubble. He ran a quick self-diagnostic, not particularly liking the results. He was leaking energon and fluids in more places than he should be and he knew that Skyspark would be a similar state. All he could do was hope that the others got to them soon.

Without warning, a light flared and he looked up, resisting the urge to shield his optics from the intrusive light. A shadow stepped into the light and held out a hand to him. Jazz rebooted his optics, not convinced he wasn't suffering an image distortion brought on by energon loss. His visor flickered and the figure was still there and he could have sworn it was speaking to him!

The edge of his vision began to fade and he dimly recognised the onset of stasis, system warnings flashing red everywhere. Then another light appeared, stronger and clearer and he just managed to raise a hand towards it before he fell into stasis.

As his systems rebooted, he slowly began to identify the sounds filtering in through his audios; metal on metal, raised voices and bleeps from monitoring equipment. He risked onlining his optics and found himself staring at the ceiling of the Academy's repair bay.

"Huh."

"Welcome back Jazz."

"Huh?" He turned his head to see Prowl sitting at his side, one hand resting on his.

"You nearly got yourself deactivated." Only Prowl could say something so emotional and manage not to let any emotion show in his voice. The only sign that it affected him was the slight tightening of his hand around Jazz's fingers.

"I saw him." Jazz managed to whisper, the memory coming back to haunt him.  
"Huh?" Evidently Prowl's turn to act dumb.

"The Battlefield Mech." He said in a reverent tone.

"So not a fairy tale then?"

"No way man… no way. Skyspark, Firestorm?" Prowl could hear the Jazz he knew and loved returning as his vocaliser strengthened.

"Skyspark got just as slagged as you, but he's going to be fine. Firestorm's already back on his feet."

"Good." Jazz tilted his head back and shuttered his optics. "Glad it weren't my time."

"Me too." Another imperceptible tightening of Prowls hand around Jazz's.


	3. Masks

Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I've forgotten…  
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.

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He could pinpoint the exact moment in time he had slipped the mask into place. The cold unemotional mask that seemed to say that he didn't care. It was the time he realised exactly what Jazz meant to him. Wearing the mask meant that it didn't hurt as much when he saw Jazz fooling around with the other mechs. Not that he thought Jazz would betray him, but an illogical part of his processor hated the fact that Jazz's attention was focussed on someone else. He couldn't help the way he felt inside, but he certainly wasn't going to give anyone else the satisfaction of knowing how they made him feel. So he buried his emotions around others, only allowing Jazz to see the whole of him.

He remembered exactly when it was he started acting more frivolous than before. When he realised how much he cared for Prowl, the thought scared him. Becoming more outgoing was his way of dealing with it. If he was friendly with everyone, no one would realise how friendly he wanted to be with just one. And he might not worry so much that he wasn't good enough.

Somehow, each hiding in plain sight, they became closer until it didn't matter what the other thought of them. Slowly, they removed the masks and saw each other for the first time. And between them, it would stay that way. Only in each others company did they feel safe and secure enough to take the masks they wore off and be themselves. Only with each other did the perceived imperfections and fears not matter. When they were together, nothing else mattered.


	4. Scream in the Night or Cry for Help

Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I've forgotten…  
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.

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He jerked out of recharge, fuel pump stuttering. He sat up and leant against the wall, drawing in air fitfully, still struggling to make sense of the dream.

"Prowl?" The question came softly, almost hesitantly.

"I'm fine Jazz."

"'Kay man…" The voice trailed off, still heavy with the lingering effects of coming out of recharge abruptly. Prowl sighed; there would be no more recharge for him.

It didn't matter that it was years ago, that no one else seemed to remember save him. It still affected him. The memory still lurked in his data banks, regardless of how often he tried to purge them. He couldn't forget.

It had been dark; a power outage that should have been their first clue to the horror that lay ahead. But no one expected the carnage that followed. No one expected that the Decepticons would attack a civilian city. A Neutral civilian city.

He'd been far younger then. And far more innocent. He hadn't seen a Decepticon before, let alone been shot at by one. Everything had changed that day.

He had been found lying among the debris that had been his home, the only sound he made a soft whimpering.

He had lost everything, but it had made him who he was now. Determined to out-think the Decepticons, he turned to strategy and tactics. They kept him functioning and stopped a fair few Decepticons from functioning until he found himself outside the gates to the Academy, a heavy hand on his shoulder and a voice that told him this was the best place to learn and the best way to get back at those who had destroyed the life he knew.

He couldn't help himself; sitting there in the darkness, he let the memories overwhelm him and drawing his knees to his chest he wept.

"Prowl." He heard the voice, but couldn't force himself to answer through the haze of relieved memories and pain. The hand carefully placed on his arm served as enough of a link to the present to allow him to lift his head slightly; blurry unfocussed optics meeting concerned optics through a visor.

"Jazz?" More movement as Jazz sat down next to him, as close as he could without being too intrusive.

"You ain't alone no more Prowl." Prowl actually managed to smile at that. And at the same time wonder how exactly Jazz could read him so easily.


	5. Fear

Disclaimer: As per usual, the good things in life are not mine to have, but belong to someone else... in this case Hasbro, Takara and IDW and anyone else I've forgotten… And yes, the litany is adapted from that used in Dune. Which I also don't own. Frank Herbert owns that...  
Feedback makes friends. Flames dealt with by the masters of paranoia and fire, Red Alert and Inferno.

* * *

The first time they were put into a battle scenario, Prowl was surprised to see Jazz falter for an instant. It was a minute falter, only detectable to Prowl because he had often watched the fluid way the other mech. moved. Then Jazz seemed to regain himself, his balance and poise returned and the only trace that anything happened was the slight movement of his lips. Prowl couldn't hear what he was saying, if indeed he was actually saying anything. He couldn't spare any more time to process the thought, launching himself into the simulation a mere step behind Jazz. 

It was only after they came out of the simulation, tired and dented but victorious that Prowl was able to process what he had observed. He walked down the corridor to their dormitory next to his friend, his door-wings just brushing Jazz's shoulders. Jazz glanced over and gave him a weary smile.

"You fought well Jazz."

"Thanks. You too man."

"What happened?"

"What d'you mean?

"Before the simulation began, you faltered." Prowl was curious, trying to find out why Jazz had paused. He wasn't expected the other mech. to stop suddenly and lean against the wall. Caught by surprise, he stopped and turned to face Jazz, standing just to off to his side so he wouldn't block the corridor.

"Couldn't help it."

"What do you mean?"

"I got scared." Prowl didn't have a chance to respond as Jazz pushed himself away from the wall and continued on down the corridor.

It wasn't until later that evening that Prowl managed to find Jazz alone again. Unsure now how to approach the normally calm and rational mech. he sat down on the edge of his berth and stared at Jazz. Jazz was lying face down on his berth, seemingly in recharge already but Prowl knew he wasn't.

"What was it you were saying?"

"Don't give up do ya Prowl?"

"Not when it is something that may have a detrimental effect on you."

"Fine. It's a mantra: 'I must not fear. Fear is the cpu killer. Fear is the little death that brings total deactivation. I will face my fear. I will let it pass me and when the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.'" His vocaliser grew stronger as he repeated the mantra so that Prowl could hear it, but he didn't raise his head off the berth. Prowl could only nod as understanding dawned.

"Much more effective than mine."


End file.
